A Waste of Time.

On Friday, I had my Youth Education Luncheon. And it was nice.

I actually didn't get to go with any of my actual mentors. I went with a lady I had met while I was being shown around. Her name is Krystal and she's in the same code and we got to talk a bit and get to know each other so she happily took the place of my mentors and went with me to the lunch.

So the lunch was set in this place called Martin's Crosswinds. The coordinator said the place was nice and that it was a step up from hamburgers and hot dogs (which they had last year). But I kind of assumed that by a "step up", they meant like Olive Gardens or something. Not like a freakin' hall with big and beautiful chandeliers. So no. The place wasn't nice. It was NIIIICE.

Krystal and I actually got there super early. Like, registration was between 11:00 and 11:30 pm but we got there at 10:45. My mom actually came on time which was a surprise to me. She got there around 11:15 am. There was a cheesecake and a salad waiting for us at the table when we got there. My only complaint was that there was really not much space. All the food and plates and cups were side by side to each other. So there weas no space for elbows or overreaching. None of that.

At my table, there was another guy (who goes to my former high school) and his mother. And then, there was the former National Space Club president. And later on, the mentor of the other guy came. A bunch of people were missing but I'm glad they were because there was no space on that table.

The next course consisted of rice, chicken, green beans, and crab cake. The people at my table were overjoyed with the crab cake. It was okay. I'm not a big fan of crab and this was particularly difficult to eat because of all the little bones. Everything else was good but too much to finish.

Then, people came up to the stage and talked. And it was good in the beginning. But I think it just got annoying towards the end. I don't like when people talk just for the sake of talking. I've begun to develop such a low tolerance for bullshit and talkativeness. I can't tell if my patience has been wearied so much because of the summer or because of something else. But man, this past weekend really just exemplified how much I despised unnecessary talking.

Anyway, it began at the luncheon right after this woman was called up to say a little closing speech or whatever. Well, let me tell you something. It wasn't so little at all. I just remember her going on and on, thanking every employee at NASA, and every person that ever said something about science and one-by-one every giant and ant that ever walked the earth.. Like we heard this sh** already. Please stop talking. Please sit down. No one cares. There was a moment that I just wanted to tap my mom and walk out. But that would've bee rude.

As if I cared. Honestly, if I was by myself and I had my own car, I would've just walked out. You know what? No. Even if I didn't have a car, I would've walked out and took the bus home. It was that bad.

After that, my mom took me home and she mentioned how it seemed like everyone else really enjoyed their internships (some students made some speeches) while I just seemed to think that I'm wasting my time. I mean, I never really put it in those words but that's exactly why I hate coming here. I feel like I'm wasting my time. I don't particularly hate my internship. I like my mentors. They're good people. But if they don't have an investigation or assessment to take me too, I'm essentially just sitting at the laptop, finding things to do to waste time.

So yeah, once we got home, the entire family packed up and went to Virginia. And that was just another series of annoying events that I don't care to reiterate. But it seemed like every f***ing person in my household wanted to get on my nerves in the few days we were in Virginia from the time we started packing until we finally had to leave.

Now that I think about it, it was probably just PMS because I got my period on that Sunday. Oh.

But yeah, the Igbo Cultural Event was hella lame. I was expecting it to be like the Ngwa conventions that my family goes to whenever it's possible for us to go. I thought it was going to be even bigger than the Ngwa conventions. I mean, there are a bunch of Igbo people in this world. In fact, I just did a quick Google search and found out there are like 30 million of us all over the world. Probably more because of diaspora and racial mixing and stuff! Then, I think about the population just in the United States. And the population just in the Maryland-Virginia-Washington area. I meet Igbo people all the time!

So why the heck were there only about 60 people tops at this event. At the Ngwa convention, there had to be hundreds of people. Like, we booked out hotels! But man, this thing was just so lame. The first part wasn't so bad. It began Saturday afternoon (it actually officially began Thursday but we went to the Saturday events). The event was set right behind the Igbo village and it wasn't too bad of a setting. Igbo village is basically a museum so there was all sorts of stuff to see.

It was just really hot. But only if you weren't under the tent. After looking at all that could be seen in the Igbo village, the family sat down for the start of the event. And of course, they started really late. The event was supposed to begin around 8 am but of course, it didn't begin until 1 pm because Africans are always late.

Long story short. Nothing good actually happened until 3 hours in. OOOOOOOHHHH MYYYY GOOOOOOSHHH. These people knew how to talk. I honestly can't remember anything of substance they talked about. I just remember a whole lot of introducing people that no one cared about. It took hours to introduce everyone. And NO ONE cared. No one was even paying attention.

It was soo bad.

It only got interesting when some youth performers began to dance and then, my mom and her group did a traditional dance. And then, some men did a traditional dance. And that was it. I thought there would've been something like a masquerade or some plays. I don't even know what I expected. We tried to leave right after my mom's group danced but someone held us back, saying there was supposed to be food but it was like 5 pm and there was no indication of food anywhere. And note, this food was supposed to be here by 12 pm.

These Igbos. I sweeeear.

I was so happy when we got out. And when we got to the hotel, we went swimming. That was probably the only fun we had.

Then, we went back to the Igbo Cultural Event because my mom and my sister and our Ngwa group was supposed to do another cultural dance. I decided to go to support my mom and my sister. Of course, we came early because they thought they were going to practice. But OF COURSE, the thing didn't start until close to 11 or so. It was all just a big disorganized mess.

The event was held outside under this tent but not really tent thing. It was a permanent fixture. And there were a whole bunch of flying things everywhere. There was more and more incessant talking. And the place wasn't even filled. There were a bunch of empty tables. It was just really sad.

I somehow got coaxed into doing the dance with them. And it actually turned out to be fun. So okay, I had two fun things happen. And that was it.

I don't want to go on much longer. But yeah, "wasting time" seemed to be the theme of the past few weeks. Funny, huh?